Brown University Athletics Colloquium: The Impact of Concussions - Protecting Athletes at All Levels

Apr 16, 2010

Providence, Rhode Island - Brown University, a leader in sports
concussion research, will host a colloquium to educate and provide
information to coaches, athletes and parents on brain injuries,
titled "The Impact of Concussions: Protecting Athletes at All
Levels," on Monday evening, April 26 at the Salomon Lecture Center
on the Brown campus.

The colloquium will start with a showing of the HBO Special on
the effects of sports related concussions have on players, starting
at 6:30 p.m., followed by the panel discussion at 7:00 p.m., led by
moderator MaryLou McMillan, Senior Director for Planning &
Projects, Office of the Vice President for Campus Life &
Student Services at Brown.

Among the topics to be discussed are: Early detection and
treatment of concussion; post-concussion effects; the science of
impact and concussion and what it tells us about prevention in
sports; policy and response by athletic organizations.

The colloquium assembles a panel of medical experts in the field
of concussion study, as well as professional and collegiate
athletes at the pinnacle of their sports:

Dr. Robert Cantu - One of the nation's
top sports concussion specialists, and clinical professor of
Neurosurgery and co-director of the Center for the Study of
Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University School of Medicine;
Co-director of the Neurological Sports Injury Center at Brigham and
Women's Hospital; Chairman, Department of Surgery, and
Director of Sports Medicine, Emerson Hospital, Concord, MA.

Chris Nowinski - The co-founder and
president of the Sports Legacy Institute, Chris Nowinski is a
former Harvard football player and WWE professional wrestler, who
was forced to retire from a series of concussions in 2003.
His book, Head
Games: Football's Concussion Crisis,
describes his challenging recovery from post-concussion syndrome.
He is a Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic
Encephalopathy at Boston University School of Medicine, and serves
on the National Football League Players Association Mackey/White
TBI Research Committee.

Prof. J.J. Trey Crisco, Ph.D. - Professor of
Orthopedic Research and Director Bioengineering Laboratory,
Department of Orthopedics, The Warren Alpert Medical School of
Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital. Dr. Crisco's work in
the biomechanics of injuries led to the development of a telemetry
system for measuring head acceleration in athletes. Dr.
Crisco is currently using that system, Head Impact Telemetry (HIT),
to study impact and concussions in football and men's and women's
ice hockey.

Sean Morey - Former Brown standout and Pro
Bowl special teams player for the Seattle Seahawks, who is co-chair
of the NFL Player's Association Mackey/White Traumatic Brain
Injury Committee. He recently agreed to donate his brain to
the Boston University School of Medicine's Center for the Study of
Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE).

Alyssa Blood - A junior on the Brown
women's basketball team and a former member of the English
National Team, who has halted her playing career due to
concussions.